# Homemade Flake - 2nd batch



## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Made another batch of flake over the weekend. Received a nice pressure chamber from @emperorzurg, 4"x4" steel, with a steel pressure plate. This batch is a mixture of cigar scraps and VA flue cured. A few posters suggested flavorings, but for this batch I wanted to see how straight tobacco would taste.

Here's the chamber as it's being filled. I applied alternating layers of VA flue cured and cigar scraps, slightly moistened with DW for pliability.










Here's a pic of the whole setup - the floor plate is a piece of 1x8 pine with a layer of waxed paper on top. Also, I coated the chamber and pressure plate with vegetable oil to minimize rust and interaction between the tobacco and the steel.










Here's the setup in action. Approx. one plastic grocery bag of loose cigar scraps plus a little less than 1/4 pound of VA flue cured with stems removed pressed down to about 1".










Not sure how much pressure I applied - I squeezed it till I heard the wood cracking. I left it in the press for 24 hours & removed the brick:










Here's a pic of a slice from the brick, and some that I crumbled:










Result: flavor is pretty good, although not as good as commercial VA flake (what was I expecting?). Burned pretty well - nice and cool, only requiring 1 relight in the 45 minutes that it burned, and no gurgling


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## El wedo del milagro (Jul 3, 2012)

Congratulations.

I'm amazed once again, and wish I could give ya RG again!


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

Damn you, Bruce! Especially now that I know where to get the chamber from, I'm thinking of telling my wife I want a press for my birthday this year.


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## SmokinSpider (May 12, 2010)

Very impressive Bruce, delicious looking tobacco brownie.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Cool stuff; looks like Day's Work to me! :lol:


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## JustTroItIn (Jan 12, 2014)

Once again, Bruce, great job!


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

Now that looks more like the beginning stages of real flake! Very cool!

Here's something you might want to try on the chamber: it's how you season cast iron and I'd wager it will work quite nice on sandblasted steel too.

-Clean it spotlessly clean with dish soap and rinse it with very hot water so it dries quick. Dry it with a paper towel.
-When completely dry, spray it with a light coating of vegetable oil
-Bake it in the oven at 400 degrees for 2 hours and let it cool down in the oven
-Once it's cool, repeat the process. (Except for the washing part)

This will give the chamber a nice, black patina that can be easily repaired if it wears off. The patina is not greasy and should hold up quite well and will serve to keep the tobacco/steel contact to a minimum. You could do the follower too though it's probably easier to just put a layer of wax paper under that.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Emperor Zurg said:


> Now that looks more like the beginning stages of real flake! Very cool!
> 
> Here's something you might want to try on the chamber: it's how you season cast iron and I'd wager it will work quite nice on sandblasted steel too.
> 
> ...


Tnx for the tip; I'll have to give that a try. There was a slight metallic smell to the brick when I pulled it out of the chamber, but it seems to have evaporated off.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Tobias Lutz said:


> Damn you, Bruce! Especially now that I know where to get the chamber from, I'm thinking of telling my wife I want a press for my birthday this year.


They're pretty cheap at Harbor Freight. I got mine on Craig's List. Also, I'm pretty sure you'd get similar results with a 2-ton or 4-ton press.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

Hmmm, I need to try this using boards and cabinet building clamps. Got a bunch when I built my shelving. My largest bookcase is 12 feet high and 40 feet long. I built several smaller ones. Yes, we read a lot.


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## bigdaddychester (Feb 22, 2010)

How awesome is this! I spend the past two months out of the office and with very little internet service. So tonight I finally get to sit down with my laptop and catch up on some puff threads only to come up on this one. I've wanted to try the same thing with all of my leftover scraps from tins and ziplocks baggies.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

bigdaddychester said:


> How awesome is this! I spend the past two months out of the office and with very little internet service. So tonight I finally get to sit down with my laptop and catch up on some puff threads only to come up on this one. I've wanted to try the same thing with all of my leftover scraps from tins and ziplocks baggies.


Welcome back & I think that would work, and by "work" I mean produce something interesting and smokeable.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

beercritic said:


> Hmmm, I need to try this using boards and cabinet building clamps. Got a bunch when I built my shelving. My largest bookcase is 12 feet high and 40 feet long. I built several smaller ones. Yes, we read a lot.


Either that or just compress your tobacco under all 17 volumes of the OED - I'm sure that's in your collection


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

U mixed together about a dozen pouches of "Drug Store" tobacco I'd accumulated. Foil wrapped in a wooden box, stacked books on it then clamped it down. Will apply more pressure daily, till it appears done. I figure I can't hurt that stuff, it'll still smoke.

I'm still experimenting with blending a bowl at a time. When I'm comfortable with the results, I'll compress the blends I like.

Don't mix the 5 Brothers Burly with Tambolaka. Strong as Hell, but not tasty.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

beercritic said:


> U mixed together about a dozen pouches of "Drug Store" tobacco I'd accumulated. Foil wrapped in a wooden box, stacked books on it then clamped it down. Will apply more pressure daily, till it appears done. I figure I can't hurt that stuff, it'll still smoke.
> 
> I'm still experimenting with blending a bowl at a time. When I'm comfortable with the results, I'll compress the blends I like.
> 
> Don't mix the 5 Brothers Burly with Tambolaka. Strong as Hell, but not tasty.


Be sure to let us know the results!

I'm pretty nubular with pipe smoking and tobaccos, so (1) pretty much everything tastes good to me, and (2) I've never heard of 99% of the tobaccos that people mention in the forums.

I like to try mixes, but I don't bother mixing aromatic blends with each other as I figure I probably can't improve on them, but I do like various combinations of pseudo-cavendish (made from cigar rolling scraps), flake, and English Latakia.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Hello fellow pipers,
I made another batch of flake this weekend and rather than clog up the forums with yet another thread on the topic, I thought I'd just augment this one.

This batch is a more dedicated attempt to make "real" flake rather than just try to use up my cigar rolling scraps. It consists of about 2/3 VA flue cured and 1/3 burley, with a sprinkling of cavendish (made from cigar scraps). I cased it by spraying with some watered-down molasses and vanilla extract (vanilla beans that have been swimming in vodka for a couple of years).

Obligatory pics:

VA flue cured:










Burley:










Cavendish:










The cased mixture:










And here is the press, with the pressure chamber generously provided by @emperorzurg:










I left it in the press at abt 700 psi (est.) for about 12 hrs, and have since removed it and have it under light pressure at this time, under a 25# plate. I'll leave it that way for a few weeks (actually I'll probably get impatient and cut a sample off sooner). The resulting brick looks pretty much exactly the same as my last batch, only thinner.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Bruck said:


> H...rather than clog up the forums with yet another thread on the topic, I thought I'd just augment this one.


As long as you realize we really _are_ interested. Personally, I think it's better to have it all in one thread just from the 'future reference' angle. This is one of those threads that makes you want to jump in and try it.


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## JustTroItIn (Jan 12, 2014)

Can't wait to see how it turns out, Bruce.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

MarkC said:


> As long as you realize we really _are_ interested. Personally, I think it's better to have it all in one thread just from the 'future reference' angle. This is one of those threads that makes you want to jump in and try it.


+100. I'm already setting aside scraps in a jar for when I get my press :biggrin: Just when I thought he had me interested with the first batches he goes and starts experimenting with toppings- this is one of the best threads I've ever seen in the Pipe forums. :nod:


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Wow. Emptying those horrific tobaccos that smokers accumulate into the chamber and coming out with acceptable combustibles would be almost like disposing of toxic waste safely! Maybe you need to start an online flaking charity, with people sending you useless tobacco so you can throw a casing on it and mash it for a day or two. You could market blocks on ebay, then use the proceeds to buy cheap cigars for the Smoking Underground in California and New York to gas the TabakNazis.


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## Er999 (May 31, 2013)

Another thing that I'm sure that is on the minds of all the puff BOTLs is: when this guy has an acceptable flake product, how will we be able to get our hands on this? Will we have tho perform a trade or pay for a small slice? Or will be have product testing? (After all one man can't figure out how to improve the product without the input of others :eyebrows: ) Again just curious and possibly saying what others are probably thinking.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Er999 said:


> Again just curious and possibly saying what others are probably thinking.


Too true...


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

freestoke said:


> Wow. Emptying those horrific tobaccos that smokers accumulate into the chamber and coming out with acceptable combustibles would be almost like disposing of toxic waste safely!


He's pouring PCBs thru a magic filter and coming out with extra virgin olive oil


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## quo155 (Aug 10, 2010)

Bruce...it's looking better and better each round! 

Keep it up!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Er999 said:


> Another thing that I'm sure that is on the minds of all the puff BOTLs is: when this guy has an acceptable flake product, how will we be able to get our hands on this? Will we have tho perform a trade or pay for a small slice? Or will be have product testing? (After all one man can't figure out how to improve the product without the input of others :eyebrows: ) Again just curious and possibly saying what others are probably thinking.


I'm on that page - once I make something that I think is in the ballpark, I'll be soliciting external opinions. I did send a hunk of my second batch off to @emperorzurg as part of my "thank you" package for making me the chamber; looking fwd to his feedback.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

freestoke said:


> Wow. Emptying those horrific tobaccos that smokers accumulate into the chamber and coming out with acceptable combustibles would be almost like disposing of toxic waste safely! Maybe you need to start an online flaking charity, with people sending you useless tobacco so you can throw a casing on it and mash it for a day or two. You could market blocks on ebay, then use the proceeds to buy cheap cigars for the Smoking Underground in California and New York to gas the TabakNazis.


LOL  I actually was thinking of something a little less elaborate - offering a "pressing service" to fellow puffers. Would anyone be interested in that?


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

Bruck said:


> I'm on that page - once I make something that I think is in the ballpark, I'll be soliciting external opinions. I did send a hunk of my second batch off to @emperorzurg as part of my "thank you" package for making me the chamber; looking fwd to his feedback.


I can't wait to try it 
Did the base plate hold to the pressure up or did you manage to bend it?

If you ever get really bored/ambitious, you could compress old cigar butts and Drew Estate packing tobacco (assuming it is tobacco) and see if you can turn garbage into gold.


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

First, to *Emperor Zurg*, that was _very coo_l of you to supply the chamber, nice job man.

Bruck,

From a technical blending perspective you might want to decide what taste you want to highlight, what's the base(s) and the condiments. You have a lot of strong flavors going into the mix. You might want to flavor the burley separately because it takes casing better than other leaf (for example).

Is the cigar leaf from smoked cigars? What's the flavor profile of the cigars that you're using and the origin (country) of the leaf? I like the idea of making a cavendish out of the cigar leaf and don't know that I've heard of that being done before and if the leaf is from a smoked cigar you might get some latakia like smokiness. Have you thought about stoving the cigar cavendish?

Keep up the good work.


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## Er999 (May 31, 2013)

Bruck said:


> I'm on that page - once I make something that I think is in the ballpark, I'll be soliciting external opinions. I did send a hunk of my second batch off to @emperorzurg as part of my "thank you" package for making me the chamber; looking fwd to his feedback.


Roger that.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Emperor Zurg said:


> I can't wait to try it
> Did the base plate hold to the pressure up or did you manage to bend it?
> 
> If you ever get really bored/ambitious, you could compress old cigar butts and Drew Estate packing tobacco (assuming it is tobacco) and see if you can turn garbage into gold.


The floorplate didn't budge. I think it would hold up a freight train!

I've heard of people trying to smoke the DE packing tobacco. The general consensus is that there's a reason it didn't go into a cigar


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

NeverBend said:


> First, to *Emperor Zurg*, that was _very coo_l of you to supply the chamber, nice job man.
> 
> Bruck,
> 
> ...


Tnx for the tips - I'll definitely have to try that.

The cigar scraps are trimmings from my RYOs. They're a little bit of everything in my tobacco library - trimmings from wrappers and binders, and the trimmed ends from just about everything. I don't think I'll try pressing cigar butts - sounds nasty  I'll let someone else try that one first.

Re the cigar scrap cavendish - it has the general flavor of cavendish, but with a hint of cigar of course. I haven't tried steaming regular old (unfermented) leaf, but maybe that would be a good experiment.


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

Bruck said:


> Tnx for the tips - I'll definitely have to try that.
> 
> The cigar scraps are trimmings from my RYOs. They're a little bit of everything in my tobacco library - trimmings from wrappers and binders, and the trimmed ends from just about everything. I don't think I'll try pressing cigar butts - sounds nasty  I'll let someone else try that one first.
> 
> Re the cigar scrap cavendish - it has the general flavor of cavendish, but with a hint of cigar of course. I haven't tried steaming regular old (unfermented) leaf, but maybe that would be a good experiment.


Hi Bruck,

My bad because I read that you were using the trimmings before but I had a senior moment. I didn't mean that you might be using the smoked butts .

A common problem with blending cigar leaf is that there are too many flavors competing. Virginia is commonly added but it's sugar content doesn't marry nor cooperate with cigar leaf. Orientals (Basma, Drama, Yenidje, etc.) do well with clear wrapper leaf (like Connecticut) but it's quite mild but it may work with your cigar cavendish.

I like your idea of making cavendish with the cigar leaf. That's how breakthroughs are made. Kudos to you. It may not work but it's worth a try. If you're not adding flavors and the cigar leaf has some sugar content then stoving the cavendish may mellow it so that it can behave with Virginia and other condiments like Perique.

Keep pressing!


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

NeverBend said:


> Virginia is commonly added but it's sugar content doesn't marry nor cooperate with cigar leaf.


I dunno; McClelland's Dominican Glory Maduro is pretty good. Weird as all get out, but pretty good.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

I shaved off & smoked a bit of the latest batch (the rest will continue to rest under a 25# plate):










Verdict: bland  Burned okay, needs to dry out a bit. Just tasted like unflavored pipe tobacco. Lacks the "zing" that I like in flake.
So I tried some mixed with a little latakia - excellent!

Next time I'll need to kick up the flavor somehow.


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## quo155 (Aug 10, 2010)

Bruce, that looks good though, turned out nicely looking.

A little latakia can help just about any tobacco...IMHO!

Keep at it!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Bruck said:


> I shaved off & smoked a bit of the latest batch ....
> 
> Next time I'll need to kick up the flavor somehow.


Sure looks like the real thing now, Bruce! :tu SG and GH&Co use a lot of vanilla (tonquin), chocolate, and such. If it was me, I'd be thinking about trying to create some Ennerdale! ainkiller:


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

freestoke said:


> If it was me, I'd be thinking about trying to create some Ennerdale! ainkiller:


That's easy; Just snag one of your wife's bottles of perfume and dump that over the stack before you press it. The cheaper and more foul the perfume, the better. Then 'salt' the leaves liberally with baby powder.

Presto: Ennerdale


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Emperor Zurg said:


> That's easy; Just snag one of your wife's bottles of perfume and dump that over the stack before you press it. The cheaper and more foul the perfume, the better. Then 'salt' the leaves liberally with baby powder.
> 
> Presto: Ennerdale


It will not be Ennerdale without tossing a rose in there!


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

Great work, I used to use 2 big old c clamps and a metal box I made to press my va and burley together and then ran it off on my meat slicer to make shag. Last year I cased everything with my favorite ingredients and then put my "plug of kake" into the book shelf in the 12th century of my history collection for 3 months and it crumbled out nice. Yummy baccy is the mother of invention!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

freestoke said:


> Sure looks like the real thing now, Bruce! :tu SG and GH&Co use a lot of vanilla (tonquin), chocolate, and such. If it was me, I'd be thinking about trying to create some Ennerdale! ainkiller:


Not familiar with Ennerdale but I surmise that that's a good thing! At any rate, yes, I'll have to try a stronger casing with my next batch.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

madbricky said:


> Great work, I used to use 2 big old c clamps and a metal box I made to press my va and burley together and then ran it off on my meat slicer to make shag. Last year I cased everything with my favorite ingredients and then put my "plug of kake" into the book shelf in the 12th century of my history collection for 3 months and it crumbled out nice. Yummy baccy is the mother of invention!


Sounds good. I plan to leave my current batch of flake under some weight for a time, shaving off small flakes periodically to see if it changes over time.


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

The pressure will speed up the "marrying" time in my experience especially if you case with pg or liqueur. You'll like it.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Bruck said:


> Not familiar with Ennerdale* but I surmise that that's a good thing*! At any rate, yes, I'll have to try a stronger casing with my next batch.


I was joking a bit there, Bruce. :smile: Ennerdale is definitely not for everyone. :nono: ainkiller: But cocoa and vanilla seem a good mix, judging from Scotch Flake Aromatic. (Smells just like a Cadbury milk chococate bar. )


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

freestoke said:


> It will not be Ennerdale without tossing a rose in there!


a rose by any other name...


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

MarkC said:


> I dunno; McClelland's Dominican Glory Maduro is pretty good. Weird as all get out, but pretty good.


I've not tried the Dominican Glory Maduro (I do have a tin). The Dominican Glory (not Maduro) I found to be bland and I presume that it was made with Dominican olor leaf that's lower in sugar and more tractable in a blend. G. L. Pease Robusto is an example of what I mentioned.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

NeverBend said:


> I've not tried the Dominican Glory Maduro (I do have a tin). The Dominican Glory (not Maduro) I found to be bland and I presume that it was made with Dominican olor leaf that's lower in sugar and more tractable in a blend.


Well, if you approach it as a cigar fan, it's probably not that interesting. But if you approach it as a Virginia fan, it's kind of a novel approach. I haven't tried the non-Maduro one.


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## JustTroItIn (Jan 12, 2014)

Looks great, Bruce! Too bad flavor wasn't up to snuff quite yet but you will get it.


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

MarkC said:


> Well, if you approach it as a cigar fan, it's probably not that interesting. But if you approach it as a Virginia fan, it's kind of a novel approach. I haven't tried the non-Maduro one.


Mark, you make the point well, does cigar leaf have to be the dominant flavor or can it be a condiment?


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

It's certainly a condiment in the Maduro stuff; you get a whiff of maduro now and then, but primarily it's just a weird tasting virginia.


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

MarkC said:


> It's certainly a condiment in the Maduro stuff; you get a whiff of maduro now and then, but primarily it's just a weird tasting virginia.


You're pretty much describing the problems when using cigar leaf with Virginia.

Bruck may be onto something treating it as a cavendish (cigar). As with others here I watch with interest.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

Details on the amounts of molasses and vanilla, please? I'd probably be using pure vanilla extract. Sounds like a great way to recycle drug store tobacco. I keep getting coupons for free pouches & I'm too cheap to not grab them.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

beercritic said:


> Details on the amounts of molasses and vanilla, please? I'd probably be using pure vanilla extract. Sounds like a great way to recycle drug store tobacco. I keep getting coupons for free pouches & I'm too cheap to not grab them.


LOL, I'm always a sucker for a bargain too!

I mixed pure molasses with an equal amount of water, which made it pretty much liquid. then I made a mixture of about 1/3 vanilla extract and 2/3 watered-down molasses.

For my next batch I plan to add some cocoa powder (not sure how much yet), and some almond extract that I just picked up, and then let it soak in a little more. The flavor of my most recent batch isn't bad; there just isn't enough of it.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

So then, you mist the baccy? Mines loose tobacco, figuring a spritz on a small amount, shake it good. Adding more tobacco to the receiving vessel. Keep appetizing, shaking and moving more tobacco to the storage unit. Sound about right? If so, I need a trip to Sam's Club. Affordable pure vanilla extract with no added sugar. That stuff is difficult to find, everyone wants to load it with sugar. 

As a side note, vanilla extract is a great fly repellant. Just a dab on exposed skin.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

beercritic said:


> So then, you mist the baccy? Mines loose tobacco, figuring a spritz on a small amount, shake it good. Adding more tobacco to the receiving vessel. Keep appetizing, shaking and moving more tobacco to the storage unit. Sound about right? If so, I need a trip to Sam's Club. Affordable pure vanilla extract with no added sugar. That stuff is difficult to find, everyone wants to load it with sugar.
> 
> As a side note, vanilla extract is a great fly repellant. Just a dab on exposed skin.


Yes, that's pretty much what I did. I think next time though, I'm going to use more flavor and let it soak in more before stuffing and pressing.

The vanilla I use is just some vanilla beans that have been swimming in vodka for some time.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Sliced off and smoked a few more flakes from the VA/Burley batch. That was the one that was a little bland at first. It's been sitting in my basement under pressure for abt 10 days now. Flavor seems to be picking up a bit. Not quite proper VA flake but moving in that direction. I'll sample it every week or two & see how it does over time. Burms fairly well - needed a couple relights at first but subsequently behaved.


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## quo155 (Aug 10, 2010)

Bruck said:


> Sliced off and smoked a few more flakes from the VA/Burley batch. That was the one that was a little bland at first. It's been sitting in my basement under pressure for abt 10 days now. Flavor seems to be picking up a bit. Not quite proper VA flake but moving in that direction. I'll sample it every week or two & see how it does over time. Burms fairly well - needed a couple relights at first but subsequently behaved.


Awesome! (Pardon my request for an update in the "smoking Tonight..." thread!)

I am watching this with a lot of interest...I'm sure it will do nothing but get better and better for ya!

Thanks Bruce!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Smoking a few more shavings from the latest batch of homemade flake. Since the initial pressing, it's been sitting under moderate weight for 15 days now. Flavor seems somewhat improved - getting a little tastier and tangier. I hope it's not just my imagination  Vitamin N level is similar to a medium VA flake. Burn is good, nice and cool, very few relights required. One bowl in my Dr. G. Omega lasted about 40 minutes.


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## quo155 (Aug 10, 2010)

Sounding better and better...all the time Bruce! Thanks for keeping us posted...


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## Mr. Motoyoshi (Mar 19, 2014)

Finally read through this thread. Great show!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Mr. Motoyoshi said:


> Finally read through this thread. Great show!


Tnx vm!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Just put a new batch in the press this evening. Collaborating with a couple of other Puffers on some blends. Current melange is about 1/2 VA flue cured, 1/4 burley, and 1/4 ribbon cut VA red which @Tobiaslutz topped and documented in this thread.

I wetted the whole mix down with a mix of DW, Irish whiskey, vanilla, molasses, and almond extract. Pretty interesting aroma  It's in the press right now at about 750 psi. I'll pull it out tomorrow a.m. and put it under lighter pressure (25# plate) for a while.

No pics yet, as they would look exactly like the previous ones. I'll post a pic when I take it out of the press.

Meanwhile, I tried the previous flake as chewing tobacco a couple times this past weekend. It worked, vitamin N was abundant, but like the smoking thereof, the flavor was weak. I'll have to kick it up a bit if I want to use it for chaw. One thing that was a bit surprising, but shouldn't have been, was the way it expanded in my mouth. One little chunk, less than a CC, expanded to fill the entire cheek/gum valley on one side


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

As promised, here's some tobacco p**n:










The batch of flake I just pressed. I had it wrapped in waxed paper while pressing, and it took some doing to remove all of it from the brick 

And here's phase 2 - light pressure under a weight plate There are layers of waxed paper b/t the tobacco and the wood to minimize flavor adulteration. Also in the stack is what's left of the previous batch I made a month ago.


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

Bruck said:


> As promised, here's some tobacco p**n:


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Tobias Lutz said:


>


I'll send you some in a couple weeks, then you can tell me how droolworthy it is


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## Branzig (Jul 14, 2013)

Excellent work! Great thread!


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Had a few slices from the latest batch last night.
Flavor: good! Sweet, sharp like a good VA flake.
Burn - a little hot. I think it might be a bit too moist at this point.
Overall verdict - I think we're making progress; this batch needs some rest time; we'll see how it is in a few weeks.


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## Emperor Zurg (May 6, 2013)

Bruck said:


> Had a few slices from the latest batch last night.
> Flavor: good! Sweet, sharp like a good VA flake.


WooHOO!! Success!
This is such a cool thread


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Progress report - currently smoking my 2nd bowl this evening of the batch of flake I pressed in early June. Flavor is definitely getting better with time. Patience is paying off! Of course who would ever admit that their baby is ugly?


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Made some pseudo-Cavendish from cigar rolling scraps this past weekend, following a method I read on the fair trade tobacco forum, with some deviations. The basic method is:

1) steam leaves for 8-10 hours
2) let dry (but not completely) overnite
3) press under light pressure (~10 psi) for about a day
4) slice/cut, dry

My first deviation was to use cigar scraps (i.e., fermented tobacco) as opposed to regularly-cured tobacco. Also, I use scraps whereas whole leaves are indicated in the conventional method.

Here are the scraps in the steamer on the grill (Mrs. Bruck allows the use of her Farberware for this, but just not in the house - stinks too much).










They are pretty fresh here, and you can see that there are many varieties of leaf represented. At first the mix smells pretty bad as it steams, like old shoes, but over time (hours) it takes on a sweet, toasty aroma. Here it is after steaming some time:










For those of you attempting to follow this method, it's best to move the leaves around a bit so they steam evenly. Also, don't forget to replace the water as it boils away.

Here's part of the batch spread out on a drying rack. I was going to try to dry it outside, but I noticed that bugs were taking an interest in it, so I moved the drying racks indoors. I let them dry overnight, after which they were damp but not soggy. I then brought them to my basement tobacco lab, where I pressed them under some weight plates (90#), between wood planks, with waxed paper between the tobacco and the wood.



















I left the cavendish cake pressing like this for a day, after which I removed it and discovered that it did no good - the tobacco just fluffed back up with the weight removed. It must not have been wet enough. Anyway, I just fluffed it up some more and let it dry, cut it up, and jarred it.










I had some the other day mixed with Latakia and it was very nice!

But did I stop there? NOOOOOOOOOOO!

For my next trick, I took about half the dry cavendish and pressed it into flake, using the method described previously in this fun thread  I cased it with a mix of cherry, almond, vanilla, and whisky which I've used in previous batches. I won't bother to repeat the hydraulic press p**n, but here's the result:










Smells pretty good; I sliced some up an tried it in a blend with some Latakia and topped VA that @Tobias_lutz fabricated. It was pretty good, but I won't be quitting my day job just yet. I'll try some by itself and in other blends & let you know how it goes


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## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

Looks like a great time and awesome fun. In the end you get to smoke it and makes it even better. My wife lets me get away with a lot but not sure she would like me making my own tobacco. Looks beautiful and hope it all turns out to be wonderful Smoke. Keep it up and Enjoy

James


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

TanZ2005 said:


> Looks like a great time and awesome fun. In the end you get to smoke it and makes it even better. My wife lets me get away with a lot but not sure she would like me making my own tobacco. Looks beautiful and hope it all turns out to be wonderful Smoke. Keep it up and Enjoy
> 
> James


I am very fortunate to have an exceedingly tolerant wife! As for the quality of the tobacco, well, it's good and smokeable but it's not as good as what's commercially available, but that's my goal. What got me into this was trying to figure out how to make best use of the scraps left over from rolling my own cigars, and it's taken me in new directions


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## TanZ2005 (Jun 25, 2006)

That is awesome. I tried a few times rolling my own Cigars. At first when I was in Washington and the Tax issues with buying Cigars and Tobacco online. Thought the full leaf would be a great way to enjoy cigars and one part of the Enjoyment would be that I rolled them. After I made a order had it shipped and then found I wasn't someone made to roll cigars I gave up the idea and smoked the tobacco in my pipe. The cigars that I did make looked like backwoods lOL. best fun was that I tried. Just wasn't as good as boxed cigars. Congrats, Enjoy your Hobby and what an Awesome Wife you have for the understanding.

Happy Puffing. 
James


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Well, James, it's a journey, not a destination  

I bet if you jumped in again and tried, you'd be able to roll some decent ones. It's all about patience and continuous improvement. I started out rolling some real dog rockets, gradually moved into the "better than dog rocket" category, and can now roll cigars that taste and burn as well as any $5 stick out there, but will probably never look as good. And I've only been at it a little over half a year.


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